The month started off with a 10 hour bus ride in from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. Because I had not slept the two nights before leading up to our travel from South Africa to Thailand, my body was physically shut down. I practically slept the entire way to Chiang Mai…literally. The most I was awake for was about a half-hour. So we arrived in Bangkok in the morning of the 30th and then arrived in Chiang Mai that same evening (11pm). As it had worked out, we would be staying at the bus station the entire night. It’s the World Race so this didn’t surprise me the least knowing we would be staying/ sleeping at the bus station. Luckily there were 12 of us since two teams were working together for the month of August. I know you’re probably asking how we fended for ourselves and maybe evening asking about food or even the bathroom. No worries…there was a Seven Eleven just across the parking lot. By the way there are SO MANY Seven Elevens in Thailand. It’s the go-to store for all your shopping needs as a World Race. Because I had slept the entire bus ride to Chiang Mai, I thought it was only fair to stay awake to keep an eye on our surroundings and the rest of my teammates. Safety first right. Someone had to be the night guard. Was I successful? Yes…well, ok not totally. I fell asleep for 20 minutes.
The next day we were picked up by our contact and a house parent. On the rainy road we rode for about 15 minutes toward our ministry site. On top of fatigue was the incessant Thai rain and humidity. Thailand is presently in its rainy season so we can just in time for the rain, humidity, and the bugs. Complaining about the weather conditions aside, our ministry site was an organization set up to prevent girls from entering the sex-slave trade. Half of our time was spent constructing a building that house different teams throughout the year that come to serve this mission organization. Much of our time during the day was also spent clearing out a new piece of land that this ministry had just recently purchased. The hope with this new land is to open the ministry up to boys, house more girls, and start up a community center. The more people kids they can reach, the more hope there is that they will not enter the sex-trade. The other half of our time was spent getting to know the girls through games, music, or simply helping them with their homework.
As we were introduced to why the organization was established and what it meant for these girls to be at this particular ministry, I began to understand the hope that they live in each day. These girls have a hope that most don’t have in Thailand. Because of one man’s obedience to God’s call and his desire to bring hope, has birthed a hope that allows girls to live in their innocence. One day after the girls had come back from school and finished their chores, I found myself lost in their smile and laughter. What flashed through my mind was the essence of the word innocence. What I mean is the way they play, the way they communicate, the way they live, etc. is still very child-like. This organization is very much focused provide these girls the ability to live out the process of growing up with an education, shelter, and a hope. Some girls in Thailand don’t even have the ability to even breathe one breath of hope or innocence. How disturbing is that that some kids do not have the freedom to live a life of normalcy (at least what seems normal to you and I). But because of culture, lust, and greed (and more) the hope is lost in Thailand.
At the same time, the rest of our squad (4 teams) were located in Phuket doing bar ministry. Their mission was to try and get girls out of the bars into a place of safety and stability; a place that can plug women into a life of freedom. So while we were on the prevention side of the sex-trade, our friends on the squad were looking at the reality of the sex-trade in the face. Everything that we had heard, or learned about concerning the sex-trade became a reality. No longer was this culture at arms-length anymore. They were seeing it, living it, and warring against it everyday. If you check out some of the blogs from the squad you’ll see how real this under-ground operation is and how the cycle of injustice runs deep due to the sex-trade. My squad-mates have stories that paint pictures of the injustices that women live out each day at the bars. Please if you get the chance check them out.
Thailand was a hard month for me with the underground activity that takes place here. It’s a shame that a country is known for the abuse of women in my personal opinion, but that is how this country operates. Even as I write blogs about it, talk about it, read books about it my mind cannot nor will it ever comprehend the evil that takes place on a daily basis. As much as wickedness as there is, not all is lost. As hard as it may seem, there is hope. There is hope in organizations (like this one) and people that try and help these women and children everyday; the people that have made it their life mission to help victims of torture find a life of hope and redemption. There is hope because Christ’s love transcends even the greatest perversions of this world.
For the sake of confidentiality and respect, I chose not to mention the name of the organization we served in Thailand.
Here are some pictures that my teammate, Steve Benson, took while we were there.
